Review: (The) Fast & (the) Furious 6

The fifth Fast & the Furious film is widely considered to be one of the best action films of the past decade (a genre classic some might say). An exciting mixture of high-octane car car chases, over the top machismo and a healthy dose of belly laughs, it really takes some beating. Director Justin Lin finds himself taking the wheel (whoopee!!!!!) of the franchise for the fourth time – no better man to give it a shot so.

If you thought Fast 5 was a crazy thrill ride, then you aint seen nothin’ yet! ‘Fast 6‘ takes everything that was part 5, multiplies it by a really big number and sticks an exclamation point at the end of it!(<- like that). This is the kind of film where people jump out of cars at speeds of 200 miles per hour… while shooting handguns… and saying cheesy lines. If that sort of blatant disregard for realism is not your thing then you should avoid this movie like the plague. That said, if you hadn’t figured out what this franchise is all about after the previous five installments then may whatever god you believe in help you.

The casting for Fast 6 reads much like an Expendables movie, in that it features half a dozen of cinema’s most memorable badasses. You’ve got Vin Diesel (Riddick), The Rock (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) and Gina Carano (Haywire) providing the muscle while the likes of Sung Kang (Bullet to the Head) and Tyrese Gibson (Transformers) provide comic relief – and muscle – and Paul Walker (Vehicle 19) provides meticulously groomed stubble – and muscle. With so many stars in need of screen time one might fear that some of them could get a raw deal, much like Jet Li in Expendables 2, but such fears are needless. The film distributes action scenes and cool soundbites among the actors very evenly, giving everyone time to shine. There is even quite a bit of sentimentality in there. It’s almost as if the characters are well fleshed out… You might even find yourself caring about what happens to them…

*ahem*
Okay, now that we have gotten that awkwardness out of the way, we can get down to business. The Fast & The Furious movies are all about fast cars and kicking ass. Number 6 takes it to a whole new level with cars flipping left right and center, tanks shooting bridges and people swinging out of airplanes. Mayhem barely begins to describe it. There are even cooler and crazier things in this film, but revealing them now would spoil the surprise (Speaking of surprises, be sure to stick around for the credits because they contain a, to quote Jean-Claude Van Damme in Double Impact, “Big surprise… HUGE surprise…” – just don’t visit the IMDB page. They seem hell bent on ruining it for everyone).

Make no mistake, Fast & Furious 6 is complete and utter nonsense, but it is the best kind of complete and utter nonsense!
Popcorn, meet face. Face, meet Fast 6. Fast 6, meet a highly entertained audience.

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About The Author

Former filmmaker, comedian, actor, writer.... Sean has seen it all (some of it twice!).
Likes dinosaurs and transforming robots. Hopes to rule the multiverses someday, but is settling for an Admin role at Krank for now.
Sean@krank.ie